Cuddles
by Zerafall
Summary: A sign of affection, also one of their favorite pastimes. Short, fluffy Lancaster one-shot.


It was a cold winter night. The rays of the shattered moon shone through the single window, draping the room in a soft, ethereal glow; her silver eyes were glimmering beatifically, and her lips were upturned into a dainty smile. Ruby looked as captivating and precious as her namesake.

"I'm cold."

The petulant statement made him chuckle warmly, and he disentangled one arm from her to ruffle her hair affectionately, heedless of the way she tried to playfully bite his hand in retaliation.

"Want some hot cocoa?" he asked her, still playing with her hair, rubbing a strand in between his thumb and index finger, relishing in their texture. While Ruby was not nearly as obsessive when it came to her hair as Yang; it was clear that she took great care of it.

Ruby's face lit up at his question; her expression reminded him of Zwei when the excitable dog was given a treat. He fought at the smirk tugging at his lips; a difficult battle, to be sure.

"Please," she said, impossibly wide eyes looking up at him imploringly. One would think that he would have built up a resistance to such tactics, being the only brother to seven sisters and all; but no, he was practically Ruby's slave, and she knew it too. The little minx.

He smiled at her, "Okay, just wait a sec. I'll be back after a bit."

He clasped the fleece blanket, taking off the section covering him and giving it to Ruby. He shimmied closer to her and gave her chaste kiss to the forehead, loving the slight flush on her face, and the way her face lit up.

He got off the bed, flinching a little at the sensation of his bare feet hitting the cold marble floor. Ruby giggled girlishly, wrapping the too-big fleece blanket around her petite frame.

"Should've worn socks," she jeered, taking the blanket off of her lower body and patting her knee-length socks for emphasis.

"I'm too hardcore for socks," he sniffed contemptuously, putting on his slippers.

"But not too hardcore to stop vomiting everytime you fly by Bullhead."

He recoiled, as if struck, then covered his ears with his hands, walking briskly to the door, "La la la la. Sorry can't hear you, too busy getting some hot chocolate for my ungrateful girlfriend."

He exited the room, smiling at the tinkling sound of Ruby's laughter.

* * *

The first sight he saw when he reentered the room, a pair of mugs filled with hot cocoa in each hand, was Ruby wrapped up in the fleece blanket like some sort of burrito. It was impossible not to smile at the site.

"Ten minutes," he said, shaking his head in an expression of mock-disappointment; growing even more amused at the deer-caught in the headlights look that Ruby wore upon hearing the sound of his voice, "I'm gone for ten minutes, and this is the first thing I see when I get back."

Ruby blushed in embarrassment, and quickly attempted to entangle herself from her self-inflicted confinement, she failed. It was irrevocably one of the most adorable things that he had ever seen.

She gave up after a few seconds of frantic attempts, burying her face in the blanket with a groan. Chuckling, he walked over, set the two mugs of hot cocoa on the nightstand, took off his slippers, sat on the bed, and helped untangle Ruby from the blanket.

Ruby, still face down on the blanket, but now freed, moaned something unintelligible; he lifted her up easily, hugging her slight frame to his.

"You are such a dork," he told her affectionately as he played with her hair.

"Can we," Ruby began suddenly, turning bashful silver eyes to him; "can we forget that ever happened?"

He pretended to think about it, "Nope."

Ruby pouted at him, "Pleaseeeee?"

He flinched, "Still nope."

Puppy eyes, cue heartbeat speeding up to dangerous speeds; quivering lip, cue sugar levels rising dangerously. Ruby's cuteness was a dangerous, dangerous biological weapon.

"Jauneeeee..."

Must...resist...

He sighed. Attempting to resist was a useless endeavor when faced with such superior weaponry, "Fine, fine." Ruby's face grew triumphant, "But I'm gonna need something in return."

Ruby tilted her to the side; and he could practically feel the question marks radiating off of her.

"Close your eyes."

She did so, and he cupped her chin in one of his hands and leaned in, close enough to feel her breath on his face; it smelled of confectionery treats and strawberries. It was so very Ruby that it made him smile.

Their lips were inches apart and he could feel how her breathing sped up, and could see how she puckered her lips in anticipation, and how her cheeks warmed up. He drank in the sights of her in that very moment; it tasted sweet, but not as sweet as what came next.

He crossed the few inches, unable to muster up the will-power to _not_ kiss her anymore. Strawberry, and cookies, and love made for a very delicious cocktail; one that he would grow addicted to, if he was not careful.

Oh who was he kidding, he thought to himself, he already was.

If only the concept of breathing did not exist; then the kiss could have lasted forever, but alas. They separated reluctantly after a minute of non-stop kissing, a trail of saliva connected them, breaking off after a few seconds of their ragged breathing.

"Can," Ruby panted, arms snaking his neck, "can we make out some more?" The question was asked hesitantly, and he could tell that Ruby felt awfully embarrassed to be asking it.

Same old Ruby. Always so quick to charge into danger headfirst; but always so meek when it came to matters of the heart. Another thing to love. Add it to the tally; he's running out of surfaces to place them on.

"You really think I'm gonna say no to that?"

He suddenly kissed her, getting something between a startled squeak and pleased moan in return. It was getting a bit chilly, so he wrapped the fleece blanket around their forms, never breaking the kiss all the while.

He broke the kiss after a few seconds, despite her protests on the contrary. He grinned at her.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked her cheekily.

She blushed prettily, wrapping her arms tighter onto his frame, only barely managing to encircle him completely. He felt warm.

Silver eyes looked up at his, only to come closer ever-so slowly, he licked his lips, and she did too. Contact never ceased to be electrifying. The faint sound of their kissing and the ragged sound of their breathing were the only sounds to be heard from the room for a long, long while.

They never did drink that hot cocoa.

 **AN**

 **Short and sweet Lancaster one-shot. Just pure concentrated fluff with not much plot. Supposed to be an exercise in descriptive writing, but I always keep describing the characters' emotion instead of the environment; something I'll eventually have to fix if I want to improve. But that'll come in time.**

 **Remember to leave a review.**


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